The1949Leeds municipal elections were held on Thursday 12 May 1949,[1] with one third of the seats to be elected.[2]
Witnessing a slight swing away from them of 0.5%,[3] theConservatives won a narrow majority of the seats contested. With the seats last fought inLabour'slandslide of 1945, all but four of the Conservative seats were gains. Totalling ten, the Conservatives safely gainedBlenheim,Cross Gates &Temple Newsam and Upper Armley; less so inBeeston andBramley, and very closely inHarehills,Kirkstall, Mill Hill & South andFarnley & Wortley (the latter being won by nine votes).[2] The Conservatives also gained an extra alderman off the back of the gains, reducing Labour's hold to a slender majority of eight. Turnout returned to 46.4% after the spike recorded theprevious election.[3]
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 14 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 53.8 | 52.5 | 89,802 | -1.0 | |
| Labour | 12 | 0 | 10 | -10 | 46.1 | 42.8 | 73,164 | +0.0 | |
| Liberal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4.1 | 7,021 | +1.1 | |
| Communist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 908 | -0.2 | |
The result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections:[3]
| Party | Previous council | New council | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr | Ald | Cllr | Ald | ||
| Labour | 52 | 15 | 42 | 14 | |
| Conservatives | 26 | 11 | 36 | 12 | |
| Total | 78 | 26 | 78 | 26 | |
| 104 | 104 | ||||
| Working majority | 26 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| 30 | 8 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | J. Underwood | 3,272 | 63.9 | +0.3 | |
| Conservative | G. Atkinson | 1,848 | 36.1 | −0.3 | |
| Majority | 1,424 | 27.8 | +0.7 | ||
| Turnout | 5,120 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | +0.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ms. Collins | 4,239 | 48.8 | −0.6 | |
| Labour | W. Webster | 3,458 | 40.8 | +1.1 | |
| Liberal | G. Whittaker | 908 | 10.4 | −0.4 | |
| Majority | 691 | 7.9 | −1.8 | ||
| Turnout | 8,695 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | -0.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | E. Clarke | 3,580 | 60.7 | +4.2 | |
| Labour | Albert Smith | 2,322 | 39.3 | +5.0 | |
| Majority | 1,258 | 21.3 | −0.8 | ||
| Turnout | 5,902 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | -0.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | A. Baker | 4,495 | 47.4 | +4.7 | |
| Labour | E. Kavanagh | 4,077 | 43.0 | −3.5 | |
| Liberal | F. Benfield | 913 | 9.6 | −1.2 | |
| Majority | 418 | 4.4 | +0.6 | ||
| Turnout | 9,485 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +4.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | W. Jackson | 2,722 | 70.3 | +2.6 | |
| Conservative | J. Steer | 1,151 | 29.7 | −2.6 | |
| Majority | 1,571 | 40.6 | +5.1 | ||
| Turnout | 3,873 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | +2.6 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | W. Spence | 1,747 | 53.0 | −1.2 | |
| Conservative | P. Stead | 1,552 | 47.0 | +1.2 | |
| Majority | 195 | 5.9 | −2.4 | ||
| Turnout | 3,299 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | -1.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | W. Till | 6,992 | 59.4 | +1.9 | |
| Labour | P. Holmes | 4,783 | 40.6 | −1.9 | |
| Majority | 2,209 | 18.8 | +3.9 | ||
| Turnout | 11,775 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +1.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | F. Naylor | 2,651 | 74.7 | N/A | |
| Conservative | G. Fagan | 898 | 25.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 1,753 | 49.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 3,549 | N/A | |||
| Labourhold | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | F. Carter | 7,770 | 77.0 | −4.0 | |
| Labour | A. Malcolm | 1,367 | 13.5 | −5.5 | |
| Liberal | B. Graham | 959 | 9.5 | +9.5 | |
| Majority | 6,403 | 63.4 | +1.4 | ||
| Turnout | 10,096 | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | +0.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Charles Horner | 4,518 | 50.0 | +2.3 | |
| Labour | Leonard Wilkinson | 4,509 | 50.0 | −2.3 | |
| Majority | 9 | 0.1 | −4.4 | ||
| Turnout | 9,027 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +2.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | F. Crotty | 4,512 | 50.5 | −0.7 | |
| Labour | Ms. Jolly | 4,416 | 49.5 | +0.7 | |
| Majority | 96 | 1.1 | −1.3 | ||
| Turnout | 8,928 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | -0.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Ms. Whitehead | 1,101 | 76.9 | +17.0 | |
| Conservative | P. Glew | 330 | 23.1 | −3.0 | |
| Majority | 771 | 53.9 | +20.1 | ||
| Turnout | 1,431 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | +10.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | T. Smith | 2,719 | 56.6 | +0.9 | |
| Conservative | H. Drake | 1,660 | 34.5 | +1.0 | |
| Liberal | George Petch | 427 | 8.9 | −2.0 | |
| Majority | 1,059 | 22.0 | −0.1 | ||
| Turnout | 4,806 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | -0.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Arthur Brown | 5,309 | 63.3 | −1.5 | |
| Conservative | H. Grafton | 2,367 | 28.2 | −6.9 | |
| Liberal | A. Burrell | 712 | 8.5 | +8.5 | |
| Majority | 2,942 | 35.1 | +5.4 | ||
| Turnout | 8,388 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | +2.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | P. Hutchinson | 4,795 | 70.0 | −2.5 | |
| Labour | D. Matthews | 1,425 | 20.8 | −6.7 | |
| Liberal | G. Foster | 628 | 9.2 | +9.2 | |
| Majority | 3,370 | 49.2 | +4.1 | ||
| Turnout | 6,848 | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | +2.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | C. Turnbull | 4,174 | 45.2 | −4.6 | |
| Labour | K. Muir | 4,018 | 43.5 | +2.8 | |
| Liberal | Arthur Lawrence Braithwaite Childe | 820 | 8.9 | +2.5 | |
| Communist | R. Huffingley | 220 | 2.4 | −0.7 | |
| Majority | 156 | 1.7 | −7.4 | ||
| Turnout | 9,235 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | -3.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | W. Hey | 1,409 | 50.9 | −1.6 | |
| Labour | Ms. Gertrude Bray | 1,359 | 49.1 | +1.6 | |
| Majority | 50 | 1.8 | −3.1 | ||
| Turnout | 2,768 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | -1.6 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | E. Wooler-Loy | 7,957 | 76.0 | −4.5 | |
| Labour | N. Davy | 1,451 | 13.9 | −5.6 | |
| Liberal | Wilfred Ernest Hopper | 1,062 | 10.1 | +10.1 | |
| Majority | 6,506 | 62.1 | +1.0 | ||
| Turnout | 10,470 | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | +0.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | H. Matthews | 3,959 | 63.5 | +0.4 | |
| Conservative | T. Nipe | 2,274 | 36.5 | −0.4 | |
| Majority | 1,685 | 27.0 | +0.8 | ||
| Turnout | 6,233 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | +0.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | C. Driver | 3,997 | 63.3 | +5.8 | |
| Labour | L. Walsh | 1,876 | 29.7 | −3.1 | |
| Communist | B. Ramelson | 445 | 7.0 | −2.6 | |
| Majority | 2,121 | 33.6 | +8.9 | ||
| Turnout | 6,318 | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | +4.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | A. King | 2,026 | 68.5 | −0.9 | |
| Conservative | W. Walford | 933 | 31.5 | +0.9 | |
| Majority | 1,093 | 36.9 | −1.8 | ||
| Turnout | 2,959 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | -0.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Francis Tetley | 8,944 | 78.5 | +1.5 | |
| Labour | H. Kinder | 2,444 | 21.5 | −1.5 | |
| Majority | 6,500 | 57.1 | +3.1 | ||
| Turnout | 11,388 | ||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | +1.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | E. Glover | 3,887 | 57.2 | +3.1 | |
| Labour | E. Blackburn | 2,913 | 42.8 | −3.1 | |
| Majority | 974 | 14.3 | +6.1 | ||
| Turnout | 6,800 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +3.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Harold Watson | 2,848 | 53.5 | +1.0 | |
| Conservative | J. Farrell | 1,644 | 30.9 | +1.6 | |
| Liberal | H. Kirkley | 592 | 11.1 | −3.0 | |
| Communist | F. Warburton | 243 | 4.6 | +0.4 | |
| Majority | 1,204 | 22.6 | −0.6 | ||
| Turnout | 5,327 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | -0.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | E. Stubbs | 1,478 | 54.9 | +0.5 | |
| Conservative | Ms. Gledhill | 1,213 | 45.1 | −0.5 | |
| Majority | 265 | 9.8 | +0.9 | ||
| Turnout | 2,691 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | +0.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Ms. Clayden | 2,824 | 51.5 | +4.2 | |
| Conservative | G. Taylor | 2,663 | 48.5 | +3.7 | |
| Majority | 161 | 2.9 | +0.4 | ||
| Turnout | 5,487 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | +0.2 | |||